Crop duster



Dec. 1, 1936; J. B. CARY ET AL CROP DUSTER Original Filed Fen. 21, 1930 QSJWM ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 1, 1936 UNITED STATES CROP DUSTER.

Joseph B. Cary, Buffalo, and Carl G. Allgrunn and Jacob E. Hollinger, Middl'eport, 'N. Y., as-

signors to Niagara Sprayer and Chemical Company, Inc., Middleport, N. Y., a corporation Refiled for abandoned application Serial No. 430,285, February 21, 1930. This application November 22, 1932, Serial No. 643,948

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to crop dusting apparatus and has to do particularly with an apparatus for blowing and distributing a fungicide or insecticide in the form of a dry powder or dust upon soil, plants, or the like.

The invention relates particularly to that general class of apparatus wherein the insecticide or fungicide material, or the like, in powder form is carried in a reservoir mounted upon an appropriate vehicle for transportation and is delivered gradually into a current of air, which dust-laden air is then divided into a plurality of streams which are in turn directed independently upon the plants to be treated, thus blowing the dust onto and about the plants with substantial force so that the dust spreads and settles over all of the foliage and penetrates substantially to the less accessible portions thereof.

Dusting apparatus of this class is commonly mounted upon a horse drawn or motor propelled carriage which is driven through the field with the dust discharging nozzles of the apparatus appropriately directed upon the plants undergoing treatment. The dust is fed continuously to the air current so that a continuous stream of dustladen air comes in contact with the plants as the vehicle passes along. The practical necessity of dividing the dust-laden air stream into a plurality of independent branches is occasioned by the desirability of directing the dust streams upon the plants from opposite sides and from difierent directions to thereby effect thorough treatment and by the necessity of covering a substantial Width of the field at each passage of the dusting apparatus to thereby make the dusting operation possible with a reasonable expenditure of'time and effort.

It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus of the character disclosed in which, in combination with improved dust distributing and dividing means, a controlled feed of the dust into the air stream is efiected with particular reliability and with particular uniformity relative to the speed of the vehicle. The apparatus provides for positive regulation of the rate of feed of the dust so that a proper and desired amount of dust is utilized over a given area of treated vegetation and further provides, by positively actuated means of novel construction and combination of parts, for delivery of the dust upon the plants at a rate which is proportionate to the speed of the vehicle so that a uniform distribution of the dustover the area traversed is effected.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an apparatus of the character disclosed in which a particularly efiective and uniform distribution of dust throughout the air stream is accomplished and in which an accurate division of this dustladen air stream into a relatively large number of independent discharge streams is subsequently effected. The present invention avoids localization of dust in certain portions of the main air stream. With the dust distributed uniformly in the main air stream, accurate division of the main stream into a plurality of similar discharge streams thereby effects accurate proportioning of the dust into the several streams. This combination of features makes possible at all times the delivery of substantially identical streams of dustladen air into the several respective discharge ducts with corresponding uniformity of treatment of the crop over an extended area upon each passage of the apparatus.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an embodiment which comprises novel features of construction and combination of parts which cooperate to effect, in a duster of the character disclosed, reliability, dependability and convenience of operation, positive actuation in all of the elements of the dusting operation and notable uniformity in the matter of distribution of the dust.

The particular features of construction, design, combination and arrangement of parts by means of which the above stated and other objects and advantages are-eifected are fullydescribed in the following specification and are illustrated in the to the invention; Figure 3 is a plan view of the apparatus; Figure 4 is a detail sectional view taken on the plane as indicated at 4-4 in Figure 3, showing the feeding means for the dustjFigure 5 is a cross-sectional view on line 55 of Figure 4 illustrating a portion of the feeding mechanism shown in the latter figure.

In the embodiment of the invention here shown and described, the carriage of the apparatus is indicated as a two-wheeled horse drawn vehicle having wheels I mounted on a rotating axle 2, the wheels being adjustable lengthwise of the axle so that they may be spaced apart different distances according to the spacing of the rows of plants which are to be treated. A plurality of dust discharge lines indicated at 3, here shown as eight in number, extend out from the'apparatus and terminate in flattened expanded portions or nozzles 4, as shown. The discharge tubes 3 and nozzles l are here shown in appropriate arrangement to dust four parallel rows of plants as, for instance, potatoes. The vehicle moves along lengthwise of the rows, each row of plants being dusted by a pair of the nozzles 4 positioned as shown to direct'the dust in upon the plants from the respective sides thereof. The vehicle is driven downthe field and so guided that the respective rows of plants pass between the twonozzles of each pair. It is to be understood that the arrangement of the dust discharge lines 3 and nozzles 4, here shown, is merely illustrative, and that any desired arrangement of these parts can be effected as desired through the medium of the flexible lines 3 to thereby accommodate the apparatus to various uses. a

A dust reservoir or container 5 is mounted upon the framework 6 of the carriage, as shown, and is provided with a hopper portion 1 formed by slanting two opposite sides of the reservoir toward each other. The hopper portion 1 has a rounded bottom 8 shaped to receive a dust feed screw 9, as best shown in Figure 4.

Referring particularly to Figure 4, the feed screw 9 operates in the direction indicated by the arrow and serves to feed dust from the hopper along to the left in said figure by movement of the screw. The rounded bottom portion 8 is provided at its lower edge adjacent the discharge end thereof with a slot in which lies beneath the discharge end of feed screw 9, as shown. At this point feed screw '9 is provided with a wiper member ll aflixed to the shaft of the feed screw and operating past slot ill by reason of therotation of the feed screw. Member I i serves to positively feed or wipe the dust through slot i9 into a receivingtube l2 located beneath the slot ID, as shown. Member II is of slightly larger outside dimension than feed screw 9, as shown, so that as the screw feeds the dust up to member II this member with its close fit inside the hopper bottom 8 serves to feed or "wipe the dust through slot l0 into the receiving tube l2. An adjustable slide valve i3 is provided to regulate the size of slot l0 and thereby control the amount of dust which is fed by the screw 9. Felt washers H are provided to prevent leakage of the dust out of the apparatus, and screw 9 is terminated short of the end of hopper bottom 8, as indicated at l5, so that any dust which passes the wiper ll without being fed through slot Ill finds an opportunity to work back up into the hopper from whence itagain subsequently ispicked up and fed by the feed screw 9.

Feed screw 9, as well as all of the other moving parts of the apparatus, is operated from the carriage wheels i through the medium of a sprocket l6 attached to the main axle 2 and connected by means of a suitable chain ll. to a train of gearing indicated generally at l8, which gearing is arranged in operative connection with the various parts of the apparatus. This driving connection serves also to operate an agitator through the medium of a cam and follower indicated at I 9, the agitator not being shown in detail but consisting of a moving element located within the hopper to keep the dust in the hopper agitated so that a steady supply of dust will at all times be available to feed screw 9.

In the operation of the apparatus, the hopper is first filled with dust by removing the lid 20 which covers the top of the reservoir. After filling, lid 29 is returned to closed position and the vehicle is put in motion. A clutch mechanism 2| having a clutch handle 22 is provided so that the vehicle may-be driven to the point where it is desired to begin dusting without having the mechanism of the dusting apparatus in operation. To put the apparatus into dusting operation the clutch lever 22 is moved into the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2 to thereby put the operating parts of the apparatus into driving engagement with the carriage wheels. Further movement of the carriage effects actuation of gearing l8 and thereby sets the moving parts of the apparatus in motion. Rotation of feed screw 9 in the direction indicated by the arrow is thereby effected and dust is moved lengthwise along hopper bottom 8 and fed through slot l0 into receiving tube l2 as above described. At the same time, the cam connection l9 sets the agitator in motion to distribute the dust within the hopper and thus provide an ample supply of dust above feed screw 9 so that the feed of dust into receiving tube l2 will be continuous. From the above, it will be seen that delivery of the dust to feed screw 9 and feeding of the dust by screw 9 is effected by positive actuation and is continuous. The amount of dust fed is controlled by valve l3. The rate at which the dust is fed into receiving tube I2 depends upon the speed of operation of feed screw 9 which in turn is proportionate to the speed with which the vehicle is driven over the ground. Thus, for a given vehicle speed, the rate of delivery of dust is controlled to the desired amount by means of valve l3. As the speed of the vehicle changes, the rate of feed changes correspondingly with the result that the distribution of dust per unit area covered by the apparatus is substantially uniform.

A fan or blower 23 is in communication with tube i2, and is also driven through the medium of the carriage wheels and associated driving mechanism. Blower 23 is a centrifugal type blower having its intake 24 connected to tube l2 for drawing in dust from the tube. Tube I2 is provided with openings at its end, opposite the fan, as indicated at 25, for the intake of air. The'discharge outlet 26 of blower 23 is located substantially tangentially of the blower rotor, as shown, and at right angles to the intake 24. The blower 23 may be bolted to the dust reservoir 5, as here shown, or is otherwise appropriately secured rigidly to the framework of the carriage.

Provision is made for delivering the dust from tube l2 into the fan substantially axially thereof. In the embodiment here shown, the bottom of tube l2 lies substantially on the central axis of blower 23. It has been found that the majorportion of the dust entering the fan from tube l2 enters from the bottom portion of the tube. It has been found that a more thorough and uniform distribution of the dust in the air stream issuing from blower 23 is effected when the dust is delivered into the fan substantially axially thereof. This is an important feature of the invention inasmuch as a uniform distribution of the dust throughout the air stream issuing from the blower is requisite to a uniform division of dust among the several discharge tubes. The embodiment here shown provides for these requirements. It will also be noted that, as'the supply of dust in the hopper becomes nearly exhausted, the blower 23 will cause air to be drawn down through the hopper, around the feed screw, and through slot It, thus effectually emptying the hopper and cleaning the dust out of the feed screw and surrounding parts.

The dust-laden air stream issuing from discharge outlet 26 of blower 23 enters a distributor head 21 preferably located immediately adjacent the blower, as shown. In this distributor head 21 division of the dust-laden air stream-between the several dust discharge tubes 3 is effected.

The features above described provide for notably uniform distribution of the dust among the and thereby effects a uniform distribution of the and properly proportioned to the speed of the carriage with a particular uniformity of distribu-' tion into the several discharge lines, thereby providing a dusting apparatus of superior characteristics. I The inventionis defined in the following claim, and is defined in terms of the construction, design, combinations and arrangements of parts which are responsible for the above described novel characteristics and advantages of the apparatus.

This application is substituted for application Serial Number 430,285 previously filed by the present applicants.

This application has been divided and certain subject matter not claimed herein has been claimed in a divisional application Serial Namber 696,066.

What we claim is:

In a crop dusting apparatus of the character disclosed, a dust-containing reservoir having a discharge opening,-and dust feeding means comprising a shaft, a feed screw provided on said shaft extending to and past the effective discharge portion of said opening and terminating short of the end of said shaft for feeding dust to said opening, and means provided on said shaft adjacent the discharge opening and intermediate the ends of the feed screw for feeding dust through said opening, whereby dust is fed positively and continuously to said opening and is forcibly discharged therethrough, and dust which is not discharged through said opening is conveyed past the opening and returned to the body of dust in the reservoir for subsequent feeding.

JOSEPH B. CARY. CARL G. ALLGRUNN. JACOB n. HOLLINGER. 

